By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 22nd, 2024
The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix will be a street race in the centre of Las Vegas along a 3.8-mile track with speeds expected to reach 212 mph.
Racing giant Formula 1 (F1) last week filed two NFT, crypto and blockchain-related trademarks in preparation for its Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit set to take place in November 2023. According to a tweet by trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis, Esq, Formula 1’s plans for the event include ‘NFTs, cryptocurrency, insurance and financial services, virtual clothing, sports gear, currency trading and virtual currency services’ among others. NFTs in the form of virtual goods such as sporting and vehicle equipment, decorative items, clothing, accessories, keyrings, digital art and others will be available.
The financial services expected to be provided include “virtual currency services, electronic funds transfer provided via blockchain technology, financial transactions via blockchain, cryptocurrency services, provision of tokens, provision of non-fungible tokens, brokerage of carbon credits and brokerage of carbon offsets”.
The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix will be a street race in the centre of Las Vegas along a 3.8-mile track with speeds expected to reach 212 mph.
NFTs and Crypto in Sports
NFTs and blockchain technology as a whole, have been making inroads into the world of sports. Some of its use cases include ticketing systems, fan tokens, and digital trading cards. There have also been sponsorship deals between crypto firms and sports teams. For example, crypto exchange Crypto.com recently signed a kit sponsorship with UFC. it is a ten-year deal valued at $175 million. The deal covers athlete fight kits, walk-up jerseys and hoodies including training staff attire. Crypto.com is also the official title partner of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
Other sports organizations sponsored by the crypto firm include Formula One, the Aston Martin Formula One team, the National Hockey League team Montreal Canadians and the Serie A football league.
Last year, even before its NFT plans, F1 team McLaren announced a strategic technology collaboration with Tezos. As part of the deal, McLaren’s top racers would have Tezos branding on their race suits. The two also shared plans of creating an NFT platform for fans. Crypto firm FTX also became a sports sponsor through its partnership with Major League Baseball.